Summary

'Success had never and would never be a ladder. Success was a pillar, tall and lithe and polished, and if one’s fingers slipped so much as an inch they risked the sharp drop, the fall into the pit of failure and agony and shame and despair. Those that survived their collision with rock bottom were then presented with a choice: remain placid amongst the weak, those who had never even begun the climb, those who might as well embrace death before it could embrace them - or clasp the pillar, and start again.'